Thanks for this road information. Personally I prefer this road via Vanzylsrus, if the road is in a fair condition. It sounds like good condition right now. Did you manage a quick stop at Vanzylsrus Hotel?

does anyone have any advice on how to structure a trip to KTP from Johannsburg with arriving in johannesburg on a sunday mid afternoon? I.e. if you were to drive from there to KTP how much time would you allow and where would you stop en route (as a wildlife enthusiast obviously)? Is there a good plae to visit for say, two nights to see some of the game animals like ellies and buffs and rhino that we wouldn't see in KTP? Are there any good tour operators that you folks recommend? Just wonderin if we culd do a drive one way and then fly back and whether that would be a better use of time.

Well there will not be much opportunity to see Ellies or Buffs. You could drive to Augrabies. In Augrabies you may do an nice Canoing trip on the Ornage river, bordering Namibia. Afterwards have a Stop over for Lunch in Uppington. and then you may go Twee Riverien(TR)- Mata mata. TR I wouldn´t recommend. There are other Camps which will be nicer e.g. Kalahari Tented Camp. Otherwise you can have a nice stop over in Mata Mata.

I suggest you stop over at Mokala national park You will see several buck you wont find anywhere else. and its a real Bush experience . Park is quiet and hardly any traffic. OK it doesn't have Ellies but what you do see far out weighs just going for the big 5 . A two night stay is a must and they do have night drives . Excellent accommodation too and the staff are tops .I would stay the Sunday night in or around JHB and then you will be well rested for a longish trip the next day .

Buy supplies in Upington as they have some good super markets there KTP there is nothing wrong with Twee rivieren and its best to stay there the first night Then travel into the park Remember the camps are quite far apart and you cant travel fast in KTP so must leave ample time to travel .From KTP visit augrabies for a night or two Those falls are something you should not miss.and then how about travelling south through the namaqu National Park then through the WCNP and into Cape Town . From there you can fly back to JHB ( several inexpensive flights do the route ) Happy planning

Can anyone give an updated report of the current state of the roads?We're going to KTP mid-July I'm leaning towards going via Upington instead of Vanzylsrus, due to the gravel road.What's the N14 like? Are there still stop and goes?

We've been traveling since 2002 on the same road to KTP with here and there a change. I've looked at many other options and would like to hear your opinion based on recent road conditions on the options listed below:

I am thinking of driving option 6 end of November and might not exit Botswana to RSA at Bokspits. If I reach Two Rivers do I still need to stamp my passport or can I stay in the park and go back home through Botswana again without any border checks. The reason I am asking is because if it is not required I do not need to take out a multi entry permit on my vehicle.

We are at the very exciting planning stage of our next KTP trip and this time we are thinking about driving to Upington from OT airport instead of flying and then heading on to KTP the following day.

Any advice on the roads - condition, type of traffic etc and best route gratefully received. On paper it looks as though going to Upington via Kimberley is the better route - is this right? Our two week stay in KTP starts on 1st November (only 261 days to wait!). As our international flights are not yet booked we still have the option of arriving a day early so that we can break the trip to Upington to make it a more relaxed trip - especially after an overnight flight. Mokala national park looks like a good option? We are used to doing long distance driving in SA so the drive itself doesn't daunt us.

Last August, we did a similar trip. We flew from JNB to Bloemfontein, drove to Mokala for 3 nights and then drove to Twee Rivieren via Kimberley and Upington.

Mokala is well worth it Roads were fine, traffic was light and we made good time. We left Mokala at 6:30 am and made it to Upington shortly before noon. We did all of our shopping and arrived in Twee Rivieren around 4:30. That left us just enough time to quickly unpack everything and a quick game drive before the gates closed. It was a long day but well worth it.

We are going from Joburg - Jwaneng-Khakea Mabua. Thats a long drive, thats why we want to split it.We can start at about 16-17°° and drive for 3-4 hours. So the next day will be not THAT stressfull.... Any recent advice for a location arround Zeerust at the N4 where you can arrive late after nightfall and leave earlie (7°°?) coming from south going to mabuase over Jwaneng. So Zeerust would be the best spot before crossing the border next morning. Or any other adice on the N4 before boarder.

We have and like our rooftent. so it would be nice to get a safe, somehow gated spot that opens reliable after dawn.